Mystery Beavers To Get New Home

Nationwide Attention Continues To Help Beaver Family

The once-condemned beaver family near Bakersfields Park at Riverwalk have yet to be seen, but will soon have a new home.

You may recall there was public outcry and nationwide attention when the city got a permit to kill the beavers for gnawing on and tearing down trees.

CNN.com linked up to the original story, providing the high Internet traffic needed to spread the word both nationally and internationally, about the plight of the beavers who made a home near a popular bike path in Bakersfield, Calif.

Jodi Brenner from Beltsville, Md. sent a letter to the California state governor's office about the beaver after reading the story on CNN.com. Brenner wrote, "I saw an article on CNN.com that had a link to a Bakersfield, CA news station about a beaver that has been sentenced to death by wildlife officials for gnawing on trees in a local park. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Why has this creature been sentenced to death for doing the only thing that it knows how to do?"

Now the city is trying to relocate the beavers.

For now the beaver family is still living in a drainage ditch along the Kern Recreational Bike Path.

The supervisor for Bakersfield Parks & Recreation told ABC23 they have wrapped 20 trees to protect them from beavers.

So far no more trees have been damaged.

The city has identified an area to relocate the beavers in Tehachapi and the city is working with the Department of Fish and Game to get approval.

Once the site is approved, city officials said an expert trapper will catch the beavers and relocate them unharmed.

But he said no one has seen the beavers.

He also said the traps that were set by the Department of Fish and Game were pulled up empty after the city revoked it permit to destroy the animals.